We are Youth, We are Strong!!

On October 28th, Indonesian people and especially youth
celebrated “Hari Sumpah Pemuda” or “The Youth Pledge Day” a day
which is believed to be the day of youth rising in 1928. It was
the promise that was written and declared by Indonesian Youth;
from every race, every culture, every belief and religion, every
background in Indonesia. The goal is to have an independent
Indonesia with one motherland, one nation and one language.

It started from the first Indonesian Youth Congress held in 1926.
At that time, they promoted the idea about “United Indonesia.” In
1928, the second and third Indonesian Youth Congress was held;
they discussed educational issues. In the final session, the
participants heard “the future” of the Indonesian National Anthem
“Indonesia Raya,” which then was followed by the declaration of
“Sumpah Pemuda” or “Youth Pledge.”

Here’s the English version of “Sumpah Pemuda” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Pledge)FirstlyWe, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one
motherland, Indonesia.SecondlyWe, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one
nation, the nation of Indonesia.Thirdly
We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, uphold the language of
unity Indonesia

Indonesia has 34 provinces, 17,508 islands, 300 distinct native
ethnic groups (with their own culture, traditional clothes,
traditional food, traditional song and dance and 742 different
languages and dialects). Since that day, Indonesian youth have
been willing to do every single thing in the name of Indonesia
and for the social welfare of Indonesian people. It was the time,
when the youth showing their power and braveness to make a better
Indonesia. The simple proof is, we’re speaking in Bahasa
Indonesia even though we have our own language based on our
culture or in which province we were born. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia)

I will not talk about the history that much, but from the history
I’ve realized that “We have no idea" how strong we are until we
do something or move to make the better future of our world.” We
should realize that we actually have so many creative ideas in
our head, we have so many places to speak out and share every
single incredible dream in our mind. Even when the people around
are just ‘silent,’ it doesn’t mean, they don't care about what
you’ve said, it means they are thinking about it.

Inspiring Youth Stories
Another example about the youth power is Malala’s story. She’s a
little girl who was shot by the Taliban. And something special
about her is, she has a big dream for girls and every child to
get the rights to go to school. She has no worry and bravely
speaks about her dream and her desire even when the Taliban
stormed her school bus on October 9th 2012 and shot her in the
head to silence her campaign. But now, she did it!! The world is
talking about her and cares about her dream. The world has
realized that education is at the top of the list to make the
world better. The people come together; one by one, from day to
day to give their support and donation to help every child,
especially for children’s education. (http://www.malalafund.org/)

The history of “Sumpah Pemuda” and the story of “Malala” clearly
show and explain that we are really strong. Youth are really
strong. We just need a little braveness to share and speak about
our incredible dreams, ideas and desire to make a better world.
We just need to arrange “how it will work” in a good way and take
full responsibility. The good news is, we’re living in the
digital era, which makes it easier to share and spread the world
about our good desire. If the 1920’s youth from Indonesia were
able to unify so many cultures and beliefs in Indonesia and a
little girl like Malala was able to increase people’s awareness
about the education of children, can you imagine “What we will
create if we are working together in the name of peace and
responsibility to make a better world?”

Kindly share your desire and the inspiring story or history of
youth from your country. Let’s start to be more aware about the
issues around us and think about “how to solve it” in the simple
way. Ask your friends and people around you to discuss it, do the
smallest things that we can do to make a better world and don’t
forget to do it with heart and as good as we can do it.